Medical Malpractice Litigation

Medical malpractice lawsuits are complex and time-consuming. Both plaintiffs and defendants are also obliged to pay a significant price.

To be able to claim financial compensation in a medical malpractice lawsuit, an injured patient must show that substandard medical treatment led to injury. This involves establishing four legal elements: a professional duty and breach of that duty, injury, and resulting damages.

Discovery

One of the most important elements of a medical negligence case is obtaining evidence through written interrogatories and requests for the production of documents. Interrogatories are inquiries that have to be answered under oath by the opposing party to the lawsuit. They can be used to establish the facts to be presented in court. Requests for documents can be used to get tangible items, like medical records and test results.

In many cases, your attorney will record the deposition of a defendant physician in a recorded session of questions and answers. This allows your lawyer to ask the physician or witness questions that wouldn't be permitted at trial. This can be very efficient in cases involving expert witnesses.

The information gathered during pretrial discovery is used in court to establish the following elements of your claim:

Infraction to the standard of care

Injuries caused by a breach of the standard care

Proximate causation

A doctor's inability to use the level of competence and expertise of doctors in their area of expertise and that resulted in injury to the patient

Mediation

Although medical malpractice trials are often required, they do have some significant disadvantages for both parties. For plaintiffs the pressure, cost, and time commitment of a trial can result in a negative psychological impact on them. For defendant health professionals, a trial can result in humiliation and a loss of prestige. It can also have adverse consequences for their careers and practice, since the monetary payments they receive as part of a settlement prior to trial are reported to national databases for practitioners, state medical licensing board, and medical society.

Mediation is the most cost-effective, efficient, and risk-effective method of resolving a medical malpractice claim. The parties can negotiate more freely when they are not burdened by the expense of a trial and the potential for the verdicts of juries to be undermined.

Each side must submit brief details of the matter to the mediator prior mediation (a "mediation short"). At this point, parties usually communicate via their lawyer and not directly. Direct communication could be used as evidence against them in court. As the mediation process progresses, it is a good idea to focus on the strengths of your case, and also be prepared to acknowledge its weaknesses as well. This will allow the mediator to overcome any misunderstandings and provide you with a reasonable offer.

Trial

The goal of those who work on tort reform is to create a system to compensate those who are injured by physician negligence quickly and without a large cost. While this is a challenge several states have implemented tort reform measures to cut the cost of medical malpractice claims.

The majority of doctors in the United States have malpractice insurance as a means of protecting themselves from claims of professional negligence. Certain of these policies could be required by a hospital or medical group as a condition for the right to practice.

To claim compensation for injuries resulting from negligence by a medical professional, the injured patient must prove that the doctor failed to meet the standard of care that is applicable to the profession they practice. This concept is known as proximate causation and is an essential element of a medical malpractice claim.

A lawsuit is initiated when an order for civil summons is filed with the appropriate court. Once this is completed, both sides must engage in a process of disclosure. This includes written interrogatories as well as the production of documents such as medical records. Depositions (in which attorneys ask deponents under an oath), and requests for admission are also involved.

The burden of proving the case of medical malpractice law Firm malpractice is extremely high. The damages awarded are calculated based on both actual economic loss like lost income and the expense of future medical expenses and non-economic losses like pain and suffering. It is essential to partner with a skilled lawyer when you are pursuing a medical malpractice claim.

Settlement

Medical malpractice lawsuits are resolved through settlement. In general, the actual dollar value of a case is negotiated between the plaintiff and the defendants (often through or alongside the defendant's malpractice/professional liability insurer). The injured patient receives a check, which is paid to the plaintiff's lawyer, who deposits it in an account for escrow. The lawyer then deducts the case expenses and legal costs as per the representation agreement, and the injured patient receives payment.

In order to prevail in a medical negligence case, an aggrieved patient must establish that a physician or other healthcare provider owed them a duty of care, but breached that duty by failing to use the appropriate degree of knowledge and competence in their field, that in the proximate consequence of the breach, the patient suffered injury, and these injuries are quantifiable in terms of monetary loss.

The United States has a system of 94 federal district courts which are equivalent to state trial courts, and each court has jurors and judges that hears cases. In certain situations the medical malpractice case may be moved to one of these courts. In the United States, physicians carry medical malpractice insurance to safeguard themselves from claims of unintentional harm. Doctors must be aware of nature and function of our legal system to respond appropriately if an action is filed against them.